This is a sweet Danelectro U1 electric guitar made by Danelectro of Neptune New Jersey in 1957. It is a semi-hollowbody, single cutaway guitar with a solid-center construction that has a Masonite top and back on a pine frame, a black lacquer finish, ivory vinyl, leather-like binding, one single-coil lipstick tube style pickup, a clear plastic pickguard with a perimeter stripe and "D" logo, two white, plastic strap pins, two white knobs, a three way selector switch, a coke bottle headstock, and a four-way adjustable chrome plated brass bridge/tailpiece with a Brazilian rosewood saddle. The neck is straight and all the electronics work correctly. The neck feels like a standard Danelectro width but just slightly smaller. This is an amazing little guitar that's in nice playing or collectable condition! It looks lovely, sounds superb and it is a pleasure to play. Grab it quick! It comes with an original black, hard shell coffin case.Description from VintageSilvertones.com
CONDITION:
This guitar is in good condition for its age and it's all original except for a replaced screw on the cavity cover and, perhaps a replaced toggle. There is playing wear right above, to the left and right below the pickguard. There is also arm playing wear at the lower bass bout where the picking hand hangs over the body. A few small scrapes and scratches to the finish are also visible on the front and back of the body. The binding has aged and has some minimal wear but it is very much intact. The headstock has some paint wear on the edges. Overall the guitar still looks and sounds fantastic after nearly 60 years.
TUNERS:
The tuners, opened-back, 3x2's with white plastic buttons, are in very good working condition.
NECK:
A straight, bolt-on neck with force fitted, white, plastic, dot inlays on a Brazilian rosewood fretboard, an aluminum nut, 21 frets, and a 25" scale. There is some playing wear on the top five frets but that does not affect the sound or playability of the instrument. The matching black lacquer finish on the back of the neck has worn away with years of playing playing. The Coke-bottle headstock, wih it's matching black lacquer finish and featuring the horizontal silkscreened logo, has some wear along the edges. The neck is kept straight with two steel rods. The action is fast and the neck and frets feel fantastic under your fingers.
PICKUPS:
The single coil, lipstick tube-style pickup is very clean, crisp, potent, glassy and full. Using the tone knob, you can attain a bright to warm tone perfect for any style of music including rock, blues, country, funk, and folk. There are two white bakelite knobs, one for tone and one for volume. This guitar also has a three-way toggle for tone control, tone kill and tone setting. There are a versatile range of tones for a guitar with one pickup. All of the electronics work well.
Description from VintageSilvertones.com
The Dimensions are:
Overall length: 38.25"
Body width: 13"
Body thickness: 1.75" with neck 2"Description from VintageSilvertones.com
Scale: 25"
Width of the nut: 1.75" (depth .75")
String height at 12th fret: 1/16"